The centrality of the concept of representation in the work of Gustave Guillaume does not derive from the nature of the object of his study, language or languages, because a linguistic theory could very well do without it, or give it an accessory status by preferring another fundamental concept ― for example, in the case of Saussurian linguistics, semiosis. It is therefore hardly surprising that one can ultimately wonder what kind of problem it is to which the central presence of the concept of representation in the linguistics of Gustave Guillaume is meant as a response. If “to promote language to existence is to promote it to representation − without which nothing exists for the mind”, it is not because of the nature of language that the linguist resorts to the concept of representation, but because there is a certain way of being a linguist, which consists in posing language as an object for the mind, an attitude which is distinct, among many other solutions, from that consisting, for example, in seeing it as an object or a “parameter” of social life.

Current usage metrics show cumulative count of Article Views (full-text article views including HTML views, PDF and ePub downloads, according to the available data) and Abstracts Views on Vision4Press platform.

Data correspond to usage on the plateform after 2015. The current usage metrics is available 48-96 hours after online publication and is updated daily on week days.